Level 20 Hour 1 Update: Phillips Gets Doubled Through
Jul 12, '09
Blinds: 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 210 out of 6,494
Chip Counts:
1. James Akenhead – 2,890,000
2. Nichoel Peppe – 2,700,000
3. Matt Affleck – 2,600,000
4. Julien Brecard – 2,175,000
5. Billy Kopp – 2,100,000
6. Eugene Katchalov – 2,100,000
7. Tom Schneider – 2,085,000
8. Ben Lamb – 2,000,000
9. Nasr El Nasr – 2,000,000
10. Kevin Schaffel – 1,840,000
Card Player Chip Counts:
Jeff Shulman – 575,000
Average Chip Count: 822,025
Notable Eliminations:
Big Hands:
Theo Tran Gets Bet Out Of Pot
Theo Tran raised to 35,000 and was called by seat 9. The flop came down 8
3
2
and Tran led out with 55,000. Seat 9 then raised to 135,000 and Tran mucked his hand.
The rail then started to cheer as seat 9 took the pot. “Really?” Tran asked sarcastically with a grin on his face. “Really?” Tran was down to 865,000.
Nasr Gets Caught
Picking up the action on the turn, the board read K10
4K. Nasr El Nasr moved all in and his opponent quickly called.
Nasr tabled J10 while his opponent showed K5 for trip kings. Nasr got caught bluffing and the river was the 9. Nasr dropped 212,000 on the hand and was down to 1.3 million.
Dennis Phillips Drops Some Chips
Eugene Fouksman moved all in for 200,000 and Dennis Phillips decided to make the call. Fouksman tabled AA while Phillips showed KQ.
The board ran out 826107 and Fouksman doubled up. Phillips dropped to 555,000.
Sebok Runs a Flush, Eliminates an Opponent
On a flop of 10104, Joe Sebok bet 50,000 at his opponent in seat 5. His opponent decided to call and they watched the 3 fall on the turn and now Sebok checked. His opponent decided to bet 80,000.
Sebok asked how much his opponent had left and when he got the answer, he opted to call. The A fell on the river and Sebok declared he was all in. His opponent took off his sunglasses, arched himself up in his chair and thought for only a few moments before shaking his head an announcing that he had called.
Sebok turned over 76, good for a back-door flush and his opponent just shook his head and exposed pocket kings. With that pot, Sebok is hovering right around the 1,000,000 chip mark.
Left In The Deck:
Action has slowed down to a crawl during the first hour of level 20. The first two levels of the day saw an average of 50 eliminations for every hour. So far, only 21 players have been eliminated in the first hour. The tournament staff has stated their goal is to play down to 175 players or five levels. With the dinner break scheduled after this level, it will be interesting to see if the staff calls the action after this level, as they did on day 4, or if they will make the field return after the 90 minute break to play one last level.
Player Tags: Theo Tran, Dennis Phillips, Nasr El Nasr
Level 18 Hour 2 Update: J.C. Tran Doubles Up
Jul 12, '09
Blinds: 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 305 out of 6,494
Chip Counts:
1. Matt Affleck – 2,100,000
2. Ben Lamb – 2,000,000
3. Ludovic Lacay – 1,850,000
4. Kevin Schaffel – 1,760,000
5. Bernhard Perner – 1,675,000
6. Tom Lutz – 1,600,000
7. James Akenhead – 1,572,000
8. Charlie Elias – 1,540,000
9. Miika Puumalainen – 1,492,000
10. Jordan Morgan – 1,489,000
Card Player Chip Counts:
Jeff Shulman – 575,000
Average Chip Count: 624,423
Notable Eliminations:
David Levi
Andrew Black
Sorel Mizzi
Big Hands:
J.C Tran Doubles
After Nasr El Nasr raised to 20,000 preflop, J.C. Tran raised all in for his last 109,000. Steven Doebler was next to act and repopped to 200,000 total. Nasr folded and the cards were turned up.
Doebler tabled AQ and was disgusted when Tran showed AK. The flop came down 544. “I’ll take another pair,” Doebler said. The turn was the 3 and there were straight possibilities. But the river was the 6 and Tran doubled up to almost 230,000. “One more time,” Tran said as he raked in the chips.
David Levi Busts
David Levi moved all in for his last 30,000 preflop with 70,000 already in the pot. He was called by the Clayton Newman. Levi turned over AQ while Newman tabled 1010.
The flop came down K104, giving Newman a set but Levi a broadway draw. The turn was the J and Levi hit his straight, but the K on the river filled up Newman and Levi was gone.
Benyamine Straight To A Million
After David Benyamine and David McLarthy both put 17,000 into the pot preflop, the flop dropped 623. Benyamine led out with 28,000 and McLarthy made the call. The turn was the 4 and both players checked.
The river was the 5, putting a straight on the board. Benyamine led out again with 125,000 and McLarthy just smiled. He threw in the call and Benyamine turned over 87 for the absolute nuts. McLarthy mucked and Benyamine took in the pot, vaulting himself over 1 million.
Shulman Busts Andy Black
We weren’t able to get close enough to the action since Jeff Shulman is at the feature table, but somehow he had eliminated Andy Black from the tournament and doubled up to 640,000 in chips.
Ludovic Lacay Busts Another
Ludovic Lacay called the all in of Shawn Pilot and showed 88 and was off to the races against Pilot’s AK.
The board ran out 4J497, keeping Lacay’s pair in the lead and eliminating Pilot from the tournament.
Sorel Mizzi Eliminated
Sorel Mizzi got all of his chips in the middle with AJ and was called by Scott Cook who had 99. The flop was good for Cook as it came 963, but the K on the turn gave Mizzi some hope.
The 10 on the river left Mizzi one card short of his flush and sent him home early on day 5.
Stokes Doubles Through Kara Scott
There was a raise to 20,000 and Jamin Stokes opted to flat-call. The action got to Kara Scott and she decided to make it 100,000 total. The original raiser got out of the way and action was back to Stokes, who thought for 30 seconds before moving all in. Scott made the call and showed AK and was behind Stokes KK.
The board ran out 388JQ and Stokes doubled up.
Crowe’s Kings Trump Taylor’s Jacks
We were unable to catch when all the money went in, but Owen Crowe doubled through Brian Taylor with pocket kings against pocket jacks on a board that read 79632.
“I didn’t want to play a big pot yet,” said Crowe. “But then I figured I had two kings, so I would.”
Noah Boeken Scores A Knockout, Over A Million
After a flop of 1084, Joseph Michael was all in and Noah Boeken made the call. Michael showed down QQ for an overpair but Boeken tabled 88 for a flopped set.
The turn was the 6 and the river was the 7 and Michael was eliminated. Boeken raked in the pot and was at 1.3 million.
Player Tags: J.C. Tran, David Levi, Jeff Shulman, David Benyamine, Noah Boeken, Owen Crowe, Sorel Mizzi, Ludovic Lacay, Kara Scott, Nasr El Nasr
Level 22 Hour 2 Update: Shulman Rolling, ElkY Busts
Jul 13, '09
Note: Players are currently on a 20 minute break and will return at 4:50 PDT.
Blinds: 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante
Players Remaining: 120 out of 6,494
Chip Counts:
1. Warren Zackey – 5,120,000
2. Billy Kopp – 4,660,000
3. Tom Schneider – 4,150,000
4. Ludovic Lacay – 4,060,000
5. Charlie Elias – 4,000,000
6. Darvin Moon – 3,450,000
7. Antoine Saout – 3,300,000
8. Bernhard Perner – 3,200,000
9. Jamie Brown – 3,120,000
10. Kasper Cordes – 3,060,000
Average Chip Count: 1,623,500
Card Player Chip Counts:
Jeff Shulman – 3,302,000
Notable Eliminations:
125. Theo Tran — $40,288
124. Eric Cloutier — $40,288
122. Bertrand Grospellier – $40,288
Chip Movers and Shakers During the Last Hour:
- Craig Boyd moved up to 3 million in chips when snapped off a bluff from Hieu Luu to double up.
- Blair Hinkle was eliminated from the tournamrnt shortly after his stack was crippled down to 33,000.
- Ahn Van Nguyen was knocked down to 1,225,000 after tangling in a hand with Steve Begleiter, who held trip deueces and is now close to 3 million.
Big Hands:
Peter Eastgate Eliminates Edward Teems
Edward Teems moved all in preflop under the gun and action was folded around to Peter Eastgate in the big blind. He made the call and the two players then flipped up their cards as the featured table crowd perked up in their seats.
Eastgate: AQ
Teems: JJ
Board: A10586
Eastgate eliminated Teems and the crowd gave a round of applause. Eastgate now holds just over 700,000.
Billy Kopp Soars to Top of Chip Counts, Eliminates El Nasr
Billy Kopp raised to 52,000 preflop and Dennis Phillips called. Action folded around to Nasr El Nasr put in another bet, as he made it 173,000. Billy Kopp opted to make it 506,000 and Dennis Phillips got out of the way before El Nasr moved all in for 1,325,000, which was snap called by Kopp.
Kopp turned over AA and El Nasr showed QQ. The board ran out safe for Kopp as it came 2410103 and El Nasr is eliminated and Billy Kopp now has 4,660,000 in chips.
Shulman Flirts With 3 Million
The player in seat 5 raised to 55,000 and Jeff Shulman repopped it to 200,000 from the small blind. Seat 5 called and the flop was A59. Shulman led out with 250,000 and seat 5 made the call. The turn was the 4 and both players checked. The river was the 10 and both players checked again.
Shulman then turned over a monster, 62, for a flush. Seat 5 didn’t have a diamond in his hand as he mucked and Shulman took the pot, his stack around 2.85 million.
Nichoel Peppe Muscles Out Her Opposition
Tommy Vedes raised to 58,000 from the cutoff and Berhard Parner called from the button. Nichoel Peppe did the same from the small blind and the flop was 1076 and Vedes fired 230,000. Parner folded but Peppe would not hear of such a thing, instead pushing all in for almost 760,000 total.
Vedes took a session in the tank and eventually folded his hand. Peppe took the pot and she was at 1.2 million.
Soulier Scores Another Knockout
Don Tran moved all in preflop and Fabrice Soulier made the call. Tran tabled AJ while Soulier showed down the ladies, QQ.
The flop came down 978 and Tran flopped a gutshot straight draw. The turn was the 9 and the river was the 7, missing Tran completely and he was eliminated. Soulier was over 3 million in chips.
Affleck’s Bluff Gets Picked Off, Stack Tumbles
On a flop of 994, Mark Ader led out for 220,000 and was met with a raise from Matt Affleck who moved all in and had Ader well covered. Ader tanked about calling off his last 720,000 and eventually made the call.
Affleck’s head sank as he turned over 710, for a complete bluff and Ader turned over pocket queens. The turn and river didn’t bring running tens or sevens and Afflecks stack dropped to 890,000, while Mark Ader increased his stack to 2,350,000 in chips.
Bertrand Grospellier Eliminated in 122nd Place ($40,288)
Bertrand Grospellier bet 47,000 from middle position and an opponent reraised to 150,000. ElkY moved all in for about 375,000 total, slightly less than what his opponent had in his stack. Grospellier’s all in was snap called and he turned over the AK. His opponent tabled the KK. The board ran out 3226J and ElkY was eliminated in heartbreaking fashion.
Player Tags: Jeff Shulman, Fabrice Soulier, Nicholle Peppe, Bertrand Grospellier, Billy Kopp, Peter Eastgate, Matt Affleck, Nasr El Nasr
With the field shrinking before our very eyes, it seems the mass of Italians and unknowns who made it to day 2 had come as far as they could. However, someone the EPT is very familiar with is Arnaud Mattern (picture right), and he came into the day with a short stack. Within the past hour, he has used his aggressive and threatening presence to turn that into 27,000. He is sitting on a table with Ramzi Jelassi and Joe Elpayaa.